Franklin Templeton eyes Solana ETF after Ethereum success

Franklin Templeton, one of the first firms to issue a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, is optimistic about more assets powering new cryptocurrency ETFs, including Solana.

“Besides Bitcoin and Ethereum, there are other exciting and major developments that we believe will drive the crypto space forward,” Franklin Templeton wrote in an X post on July 23. The post added:

“Solana has shown major adoption and continues to mature, overcoming technological growing pains and highlighting the potential of high-throughput, monolithic architectures.”

Franklin Templeton’s spot Ethereum ETF has launched trading on CBOE

Franklin Templeton’s statement about potential Solana ( SOL ) ETFs came on the same day the company launched its second spot cryptocurrency ETF, the Franklin Ethereum ETF (EZET).

The new Ethereum  ETF is offered on the Chicago Board Options Exchange’s (CBOE) BZX exchange, priced at 0.19%, or 19 basis points. Franklin Templeton opted to fully waive fees to 0% until Jan. 31, 2025, for the first $10 billion in fund assets.

EZET’s launch came roughly six months after Franklin Templeton launched its spot Bitcoin ( BTC ) ETF in January 2024 alongside nine other Bitcoin ETF issuers, including Grayscale, BlackRock, Fidelity and others.

“After the success of our spot Bitcoin ETF (EZBC) launch in January, we are proud to add EZET to our growing lineup of digital asset ETFs,” Patrick O’Connor, Franklin Templeton’s head of global ETFs, stated.

When Solana ETF?

Solana ETF anticipation has sparked massive investor attention since VanEck filed for a Solana ETF called the VanEck Solana Trust in June 2024. Major rivals like 21Shares have also filed a Solana ETF application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Related: Spot Solana ETF might 9x the price of SOL — GSR Markets

According to industry analysts, the first spot Solana ETF applications should receive final decisions from the US SEC around the middle of March 2025.

The news comes a few days after Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas predicted that Ether ( ETH ) ETFs will pave the way for more crypto ETFs, including Solana-based spot ETFs. He wrote:

“Keep in mind after launch, there are flows, and then add ETH products, I’m sure, then Solana, and then… It’s probably never going to end. The dam has broken.”

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